Houston County

Houston County was one of the counties of the Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1845. Named for President Sam Houston, the hero of the Texas Revolution, Houston had a population of 5,860 by 1842, with 81.4% being Texans, 13.2% African-Americans, 3.1% Serbians, and 2.3% Native Americans; 94.7% were Protestants, 3.1% Orthodox Christians, and 2.3% animists. As Texas continued to encourage immigrants, more and more came from Eastern Europe, mostly from the Ottoman Empire's regions of Serbia, Albania, Greece, and Bulgaria. In 1845, the county was annexed by the United States and divided into smaller counties after Texas was granted statehood.